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Save the Language!
' Zepeda speaking.jpg Zepeda Ofelia 09 10 2010 medium 2.jpg Zepeda.jpg Sbs language2.jpg Commone589.jpg Potrait of Ofelia Zepeda.jpg Tohono_OOdham-SPEC.jpg '''Edited by Jessica Marie Carlos '''Ofelia Zepeda' (1952-present) is a Tohono O'odham poet, linguist, professor, editor, and author. Growing up in Stanfield, Arizona, Zepeda was surrounded by her Tohono O'odham culture. Despite not actually living on the reservation, living just north of it gave her an excellent glimpse into the lives of her people. She watch them farm in the Sonoran Desert climate, implementing techniques developed by their ancestors. Currently, Zepeda is a linguistics professor at the University of Arizona. Rather than deny her heritage as some due when enveloped in education, she has embraced it and works diligently to preserve it. Zepeda focuses primarily on her native language, Papago, a derivative of the Uto-Aztecan language group. In an effort to preserve the language, she teaches classes specifically designed to pass on the language to the next generation. Zepeda's focus on language bleeds into her poetry quite amicably. Not only does she capture the beauty of her culture with her poems, but she uses her native tongue to enrich the meaning and the cultural awareness that so few can express any other way. Though her poetry does not seem to actually make a political stand, the act of writing in Papago alone is a political in nature. Zepeda also styles her poems after the O'odham songs of her people. When Zepeda does write in English, she is using what some consider the enemy's language to express the ideas of her people. Ofelia Zepeda is a leading agent for the preservation of all Native American languages, some of which are severely suffering the effects of forced assimilation quite strongly. She co-founded the American Indian Language Development Institute. __TOC__ 'The Tohono O'odham Nation and Their Songs' The Tohono O'odham Nation is largely made up of farmers. Building off of the techniques developed by their ancestors, the O'odham people have become "master dwellers of the desert" (Tohono O'odham Nation). Though there is only one O'odham society, political borders like U.S.-Mexico Border have devided the the society into four recognized tribes: the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, the Ak-Chin Indian Community, and the Salt River (Pima Maricopa) Indian community (Tohono O'odham Nation). Zepeda points out that the songs of her people are different from the poems she writes. Songs come from nature. They are heard by any person at any random point in time, though they usually generate from the natural world. Songs are not planned out. They just happen, and they are passed down orally from generation to generation. Zepeda does plan out her poems as well as edits them. She does agree, however, that they do have song-like aesthetics and maintain the simplicity of the songs. According to Angelica Lawson, there are five aesthetic qualities that make Zepeda’s poems like Tohono O’odham songs: “the poem is concise, descriptive, invokes an event, uses repetition, and is place-specific” (187). The following peom adheres to the criteria quite well: Na:nko Ma:s Cewagi/Cloud Song ''' '''Ce:daghim ‘o ‘ab wu:sañhim. To:tahim ‘o ‘ab wu:sañhim. Cuckuhim ‘o ‘ab him. Wepeghim ‘o ‘abai him. ''' '''Greenly they emerge. In colors of blue they emerge. Whitely they emerge. In colors of black they are coming. Reddening, they are right here. Along with meeting the criteria, this poem also exhibits a creative trait that most natives appreciate- the coining of words in order to describe something that cannot be directly translated to English. "Greenly" and "Whitely" are color terms that also show a certain movement of the clouds. 'Notable Works' * A Papago Grammar (1983) *"The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States" (1991) *"Derived Words in Tohono O'odham" (1992) *"Mrs. Patricio's Trouble: The Distribution of Responsibility in an Account of Personal Experience" (1993) *''Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995)'' *''Jewed’l-hoi/Earth Movements, O’Odham Poems (1996)'' 'Why Should We Care?' Ofelia Zepeda's work takes poetry to a whole other level. It accomplishes multiple feats in a single event. Firstly, Zepeda's poetry is a collection of poems that will forever encase her culture in time. Much like Shakespeare's belief about his sonnets, kingdoms rise and fall, but her poetry will outlast most things. When so much culture and tradition are expressed in her poetry, the Tohono O'odham can never truly die or be forgotten. Secondly, Zepeda's poetry is a tool by which she and others can teach the next generation of O'odham society. Her poetry will live long, but she has forced her own people to be conscious of the efforts made to slowly eat away at their culture until there is nothing left. The more people she can awaken, the more likely she is to save her language. Thirdly, her poetry and life inspires other Native American cultures to preserve their languages and traditions, too. Lastly and what non-natives like so many of us would find important is the example she sets for all cultures that do not immediately conform to the ideals of our government. Zepeda inspires us to write in our native tongue, which for many is not English. She encourages us to fill our poetry with the life and the color of our customs, to write about what we know, and to eclipse the expectations forced upon us by the "white" majority. Zepeda shows us how to resist assimilation and persevere. She reminds us that we all have something to say and demands that we say it. 'Works Cited' Lawson, Angelica. “Resistance and Resilience in Ofelia Zepeda’s Ocean Power.” Kenyon Review ''32.1 (2010): 180-198. ''Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. “Ofelia Zepeda.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. “Ofelia Zepeda.” The University of Arizona: The Department of Linguistics. University of Arizona, 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. The University of Arizona. "Ofelia Zepeda Renowned Poet and Linguistics Professor." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. Tohono O’odham Nation. Tohono O’odham Nation, 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. Zepeda, Ofelia. Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995. Print.